Nokia dumping Symbian for US phones

Open source operating system makes way for Windows Phone 7

Nokia has announced that it is killing off Symbian for new smartphones in North America. Nokia president Chris Weber revealed the move to AllThingsD's Ina Fried on Tuesday.

Weber said that the company plans to exit both the low-end and Symbian smartphone business in the region as part of a broader effort to focus on Windows Phone 7.

It appears, from Weber's comments, that Nokia is putting a lot of stock into Windows Phone 7, and is figuring that if they don't do well in North America, they won't do well elsewhere. Weber explained that Nokia sees the North American market as key to winning the smartphone battle globally.

As part of Nokia's newfound Windows Phone 7 strategy, you should expect to see a bigger advertising presence for the company real soon. Nokia hasn't provided specifics, but the upcoming campaign is reportedly the company's biggest ever. "They're putting their money where their mouth is," Weber told AllThingsD.

The company had nearly a third of the market less than a decade ago, but that its insistence on utilitarian design damaged its standing. In the smartphone market, style has proved to be almost as important as function.

Due to Nokia phones' slow sales, many carriers decline to carry the devices or refuse to subsidise the cost, this means that Nokia devices were and are much more expensive than competitors' similarly-featured devices.